Ride for Water II Journal

Day 33 – Alice Springs to Tennet Creek Via Greyhound on to Threeways Roadhouse 25 K

This was a difficult decision. It’s not a turn any of us envisioned our trip would take. When we parted ways with David at the Alice Springs YHA Hostel this morning we were all saddened and sullen at leaving each other. One way or another...

Day 31 and 32 Rest Days – Alice Springs.

Much needed time was spent putting the ride in perspective. We all sat down over coffee and tea in the morning before breakfast to discuss our options. David has yet to decide whether to stop here or continue on. He is definite about taking 2...

Day 30 Stuart’s Well to Alice Springs 92K / 57 Miles

Alice Spring started as a telegraph station that linked communication to and from Darwin on the north coast, with the rest of Australia. It is the biggest city in the outback. To us it represents a rest day as well as deciding point for our...

Day 29 Erldunda to Stuart’s Well 109K / 67 Miles

We are all very stressed by the sour flavor the ride has taken. The introduction of David Isitt has provided some relief in the tension between the rest of us but we are all feeling the wear taking its toll. We decided that Alice Springs...

Day 28 Bush Camp #3 to Erldunda 133 K / 83 Miles

We woke this morning knowing we should get on the road early. There were strong headwinds forecast and our options for overnight were somewhat limited. Kulgera Roadhouse would be an easy half-day ride. The next roadhouse at Erldunda was a full day’s ride and into...

Day 27 Marla to Bush Camp #3 121 K / 75 Miles

Last evening at dinner we met Phil, and this morning as we were just getting on our bikes, we met Anthony. Phil and Anthony had been cycling the Oodnadatta Track, a popular off road route that follows the route of the now abandoned Ghan Railway...

Day 26 Cadney Homestead Park to Marla 82 K / 51 Miles

Prior to the second year running of the Illinois Marathon the weather had been cool. I had trained throughout the winter and felt good about doing the half-marathon. All I was going for was a personal best. Might be easy to do because the previous...

Day 25 Coober Pedy to Cadney Homestead Park 153 K / 95 Miles

With the rest day we all agreed to try to get and early start. For the first time, we were on the road before 8 AM. While the headwinds persisted they were relatively light and we made decent time. It seems that the earlier we...

Day 24 Rest Day – Coober Pedy

If I didn’t know better I would have thought I was in some hard scrabble town in the southwestern U.S., maybe in Arizona or New Mexico. Instead of a population of displace native Americans, there are the displaced Aboriginals . The parallels of white settlement...

Day 23 Bush Camp #2 to Coober Pedy 132 K / 82 Miles

It seemed rather pleasant standing around the campfire last evening. The stars were brilliant. The Southern Cross is nearly overhead, with Mars, Jupiter and Saturn standing out brilliantly. It must have been around 3 AM when the temperature seemed to drop. I had taken time...